Epistle of Jude
Dan Fefferman
| New Testament |
|---|
The brief Epistle of Jude is a book in the Christian New Testament canon.
Summary
The letter opens with a salutation identifying the writer as Jude, the brother of James. He makes his concern plain immediately. Certain men have "secretly slipped in among you." He accuses these teachers of twisting "the grace of our God into a license for immorality" and also of denying Jesus Christ as "our only Sovereign and Lord."
The first charge is fairly easy to understand. A number of Christians interpreted Paul's teaching on freedom from the Jewish law to mean that they were free from even the most basic Mosaic commandments, such as the law against adultery and fornication. This heresy, calling antinomianism was also known in Saint Paul's day, for he argues against it in I Corinthinans 5. In the following verses the author makes an analogy between those who commit sexual sin at Sodom and Gomorrah and the "the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home"—an apparent reference to events described in the Book of Enoch, which was widely read by both Jews and Christians at the time. He accuses the heretics of polluting their own bodies, rejecting authority, and "slander celestial beings." He mentions the archangel Michael, who is mentioned nowhere else in then canonical scriptures except the Book of Revelation. "Woe to them!" he curses, for the have followed the way of Cain, resembling prophet-for-hire Balaam and the rebellious Korah, who challenged the priestly authority of Aaron.
Author and date
The epistle is titled as written by "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James" (NIV). If taken literally this means that the author is a brother of Jesus, an attribution which is now increasingly considered as the most probable[1], [2].
Though it is held as canonical by all Christian churches, some scholars consider the letter a pseudonymous work written between the end of the first century and the first quarter of the 2nd century, arguing from the references to the apostles (verse 1:17-18), tradition (1:3); the book's competent Greek style and the opposition to Gnosticism. However, this reasoning has not found universal acceptance and most scholars date it between 66 to 90.[3],[4]+[5]
"More remarkable is the evidence that by the end of the second century Jude was widely accepted as canonical...'[6]. Clement, Tertullian and the Muratorian canon considered the letter canonical. The authorship was called into question when Origen first spoke of the doubts held by some—albeit not him. Eusebius classified it with the "disputed writings, the antilegomena.." The letter was eventually accepted as part of the canon by the Church father Athanasius and the Synods of Laodicea (c. 363) and Carthage (397). Doubts regarding Jude's authenticity were revived at the time of the Protestant Reformation.
The debate has continued over the author's identity as the apostle, the brother of Jesus, both, or neither. Some scholars have argued that since the author of that letter has not identified himself as an apostle and actually refers to the apostles as a third party, he cannot be identified with the Jude who is listed as one of the Twelve (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13; cf John 14:22). Others have drawn exactly the opposite conclusion ie as Jude was not an apostle, he would not have made such a claim on his own behalf[7]. The person intended is sometimes identified as another Jude, named in the gospels among the relatives of Jesus (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3), and the James referred to as his brother James, to whom the Letter of James is attributed. Little is known of this Jude, which would explain the apparent need to identify him by reference to his better-known brother.[3]
Style
The Epistle of Jude is a brief book of only a single chapter with 25 verses. It was composed as an encyclical letter—that is, one not directed to the members of one church in particular, but intended rather to be circulated and read in all churches. The form, as opposed to the earlier letters of Paul, suggests that the author knew Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians or even that the Pauline epistles had already been collected and were circulating when the text was written.
The wording and syntax of this epistle in its original Greek demonstrates that the author was capable and fluent. The epistle is addressed to Christians in general (1:1), and it warns them about the doctrine of certain errant teachers to which they were exposed. Examples of heterodox opinions that were circulating in the early 2nd century include Docetism, Marcionism, and Gnosticism.
The epistle's style is combative, impassioned, and rushed. Many examples of evildoers and warnings about their fates are given in rapid succession. The epithets contained in this writing are considered to be some of the strongest found in the New Testament.
The epistle concludes with a doxology, which is considered to be one of the highest in quality contained in the Bible.
The fact that the Epistle of Jude is notably similar to Second Epistle of Peter indicates the possibility that the writing of one of the epistles was influenced by the content of other. Because this epistle is much shorter than 2 Peter, and due to various stylistic details, the scholarly consensus is that Jude was the source for the similar passages of 2 Peter.
References to other books
The Epistle of Jude references two other books, one which is non-canonical in all churches, the other non-canonical in most churches.
Verse 9 refers to the dispute between Michael the Archangel and the devil about the body of Moses. A passage in a non-canonical book, the Assumption of Moses, provides an account of this dispute.
Verse 14-15 contains a direct quote of a prophecy from the Book of Enoch. It also attributes the quote to "Enoch, the seventh from Adam," indicating Jude accepts the antediluvian patriarch Enoch as the author. The Book of Enoch is not considered canonical by most churches, although it is by the Ethiopian Orthodox church.
Notes
- ↑ Chester, A and Martin, RP (1994), 'The Theology of the Letters of James, Peter and Jude', CUP, p.65
- ↑ Bauckham,RJ (1986), Word Biblical Commentary, Vol.50, Word (UK) Ltd. p.14
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/jude/jude.htm
- ↑ Norman Perrin, (1974) The New Testament: An Introduction, p. 260
- ↑ Bauckham,RJ (1986), Word Biblical Commentary, Vol.50, Word (UK) Ltd. p.16
- ↑ Bauckham,RJ (1986), Word Biblical Commentary, Vol.50, Word (UK) Ltd. p.17
- ↑ Bauckham,RJ (1986), Word Biblical Commentary, Vol.50, Word (UK) Ltd. p.14f
External links
Online translations of the Epistle of Jude:
- Jude in KJV BBE CUV
- Jude in New American Bible
- Online Bible at GospelHall.org
- Jude at Bible Gateway (various versions)
- Early Christian writings: Epistle of Jude: comparable translations and interpretations
Additional information:
- Biblaridion magazine: Examining the relationship between Jude and II Peter (part-1)
- Biblaridion magazine: Jude (part two): Exegesis of difficult passages in Jude and II Peter
- Christian Bible Links
- Easton's Bible Dictionary, (1897)
- Catholic Encyclopedia
- Comprehensive study the Epistle of Jude
- An Exegesis of Jude by Michael Quandt
| Preceded by: 3 John |
Books of the Bible |
Succeeded by: Revelation |
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